


Lighting and Fevers

by taylor_tut



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, College, College AU, Fever, Flu, Sick Character, Sick Fic, Sickness, lighting, protective keith, scared character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 17:47:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11385249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taylor_tut/pseuds/taylor_tut
Summary: Lance doesn't feel too well and decides to take a nap. Then, a thunderstorm wakes him up.(My good pal @whumpdump gave me a prompt for college AU sick Lance who’s afraid of thunderstormies and I loved it! Here is a short lil fic!)





	Lighting and Fevers

Lance flopped face-first into his bed as soon as he walked in the door from his shift at the coffee shop, not even bothering to change out of his mocha-stained polo shirt.

“Yo,” Keith greeted, not looking up from his computer. “You’re home early.”

“Yeah, they, uh, didn’t need me.” In truth, Lance had been sent home by his manager because he’d fallen asleep in the back room on his ten-minute break, and when she’d come back to wake him up, she swore that he had a fever and needed to go home. Lance didn’t feel great, but it definitely wasn’t that bad.

“I need a nap,” he confessed, kicking his shoes off the edge of the bed without moving.

“Do you have a minute before you sleep to help me with my algebra?” Keith asked. Damn it, Lance had forgotten he’d promised Keith he’d help him on the online homework portion.

Lance sighed. “Sure,” he tried for a convincing smile, “How many do you have left?”

Lance looked over the numbers, frowning as they seemed to spin and sort of change in size beneath his gaze. Though he’d taken this class last semester and clearly knew the math, it wasn’t clear to him what he was supposed to do with each equation.

“What am I looking at?” he asked.

“We’re solving for x,” Keith informed. Lance took a few seconds to work the problem out on his notebook, scratching through three nonsensical methods before finally handing it over to Keith.

“Try this?” he hoped, holding his breath as Keith input the number into the box and the screen flashed a red “try again” message. Lance worked the problem once more.

“This is the same answer you just gave me, Lance,” Keith told him, “so I’m going to guess it’s still not right. Jesus, you really do need a nap. Go ahead and get some sleep. I can work on this later."

“You’re sure?” Lance asked, grateful for being let off the hook.

“It’s not due til midnight,” Keith shrugged. Lance looked at the clock–it was only 3 in the afternoon.

“I’ve got my SGA meeting in two hours,” he informed. “Should only take 45 minutes, though. I’ll be back in time to help you.” Keith nodded.

Lance worked at the coffee shop and was VP of the student government association in addition to his classes, so a nap here and there wasn’t unusual. They only ever lasted 20 minutes or so.

So when, at 4:50, Lance was still asleep, Keith started to feel a little concerned. He was about to wake Lance for his meeting, but a loud roll of thunder from outside beat him to it. Lance sprang up in bed startled, and Keith chuckled.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” he smirked. “I think that’s the longest I’ve ever seen you sleep.”

Lance didn’t crack a smile like Keith expected him to. Instead, he pressed his thumbs to his temples and started to massage them slowly, curled into a small, shivering ball.

“Lance?” Keith tried. “You okay?”

Lance nodded. “Just a headache,” he rasped. God, his voice sounded awful–painful and nearly gone completely.

“You sure about that? You sound like death.”

Lance groaned. “Do you have ibuprofen I could steal?” Lance didn’t believe that there were ailments that couldn’t be cured with a cup of cold water or a mug of hot tea, so the fact that he was asking for actual over the counter medications surprised Keith.

“Yeah,” he replied, reaching into his bottom drawer for his first aid kit, “one or two?” Lance held up two fingers. “Maybe you should skip the SGA meeting today,” Keith advised. “You’re not looking so hot.”

Lance shook his head. “Can’t skip,” he denied. “I’m the vice president.”

“And didn’t you tell me that you ran the meeting yourself last week because the President was out with–” Keith paused mid-sentence. Of fucking course. “I’m making the executive decision that you’re not going anywhere tonight. You’ve got the flu.”

The thunder rolled once more, louder this time, and their dorm went dark and quiet as the electricity died. Lance jumped a foot when the room was illuminated once more for just a flash by a bolt of lightning.

“Hey, it’s okay. The power’s just out. It’s going to get seriously cold in here, though.” Lance shook his head.

“I don’t care,” he muttered, balling himself up in his covers and pulling the blanket over his head. The lightning struck again, followed by a loud clap of thunder, followed by a painful whimper from Lance.

“What’s the matter?” Keith asked, sounding genuinely nervous but trying to taunt despite the sinking feeling in his stomach. “Afraid of a little thunder?” Lance shook his head.

“Lightning,” he corrected, “And I’m not afraid. I just–grew up in a small house. Nowhere safe to really go during storms.” Keith climbed into Lance’s bed and pressed his body against Lance’s own.

“Jesus, you’re really burning up. And this is from after the fever reducer? How did you get through classes like this?” He felt Lance shrug beneath his grip.

“Don’t you have homework?” Lance asked in a small voice.

“Can’t do it without internet access,” Keith said. “Plus, you’re more important.”

Lance snuggled a bit closer to Keith, trusting that his roommate would keep him safe.


End file.
